The Waiting Wolf ONE SHOT
by FullMoonDreams
Summary: A short story about the man who had been bitten by a werewolf and was in St Mungo's in book 5. No HBP spoilers.


_Disclaimer: The characters and places in this story are all the property of JK Rowling. I have merely borrowed them and given them my own little twist._

_Rating: PG_

_This is a story to expand a little on the werewolf who was in St Mungo's with Arthur Weasley in book 5. This story DOES NOT contain spoilers for HBP.

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**The Waiting Wolf**

"Great, just great," muttered the young wizard as he looked about the area and realised that he was completely lost.

The full moon overhead cast little light amidst the closely gathered trees and he scratched his head as he tried to recall which direction he had come from.

Deciding that one direction was pretty much as good as the next he stumbled between the trees, swearing succinctly as he caught his shirt on one branch after another.

"Won't it be romantic Richard?" he muttered sarcastically as he pulled his shirt free yet again.

"Camping out under the full moon," he complained to himself. "Bloody stupid idea if ever there was one."

But how could he explain to his muggle girlfriend that there were things like werewolves out there. She didn't even know about wizards and the magical world at all. How could he have talked her out of this trip without explaining a whole lot more than he wanted to?

He stepped over a branch and tripped spectacularly forward with a small scream that seemed to echo through the trees. With a groan he realised that he had smashed his muggle watch during the fall. Sally had brought it for him as a present for their six month anniversary of dating and he knew she would not be pleased that he had broken it. He looked around and decided to risk a quick spell. Withdrawing his wand from where he had hidden it within his clothes he quickly said "reparo" and watched as the shattered face sprang back together and the hands quickly adjusted themselves to the correct time.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," he said to himself with a grimace as he stood up.

Looking around again he realised that whilst his innocently repairing the watch might not hurt her, there was one thing that she didn't know about that would – and he was staring right at it.

He had never seen a live werewolf before, only the occasional pictures in books or papers. He idly considered that it was smaller than he had imagined one would be. Frozen for precious seconds he watched the creature advance through the trees, until it was only a matter of yards away.

Finally he managed to come out of his trance-like stupor and he wheeled round to run as fast as he could.

He didn't know if he was heading for the direction of the campsite any more and a part of him hoped that he wasn't, that he was drawing the creature away from Sally and the other campers in the area.

Panting slightly he stumbled and tripped as he weaved his way between the trees, hoping with each breath that someone was already tracking the deadly creature behind him.

He didn't know how long he had run for, only that his legs were starting to ache uncontrollably. He tried again and again to apparate out of the forest and back to the campsite but in his panicked state he could not concentrate hard enough to perform the task that was normally so simple to do.

In the darkness, and the thickness of the trees, he didn't see the small drop in the land until he felt himself free-falling down it.

He lay, winded and bruised on the ground, hoping that the creature behind him had given up the chase.

He drew a deep breath and rolled over onto his back. He looked up at the full moon above him and realised that he was lying out in the open and was extremely easy to spot from the higher ground.

He sat up to begin to rise to his feet.

He didn't make it though and the howl of the werewolf rang out as the creature seemed to fly down towards him and he felt the searing pain of the sharp teeth tearing into his flesh.

* * *

Richard woke up in St Mungo's and recognised where he was, even though he had never been on this particular floor before.

"Ah, you're awake," the healer said with an encouraging smile.

He wondered if he was required to reply to such an obvious comment and wondered briefly why he was there and what had happened. In a rush it all came flooding back to him and as he moved he felt the pain of the injuries that he knew would not be healed by magic.

"You're a very lucky young man," the healer said as she drew nearer and smiled again. He noticed that at this closer distance the smile seemed a little forced, and he knew why. He had survived a werewolf bite and when the next full moon came round there was a good chance he would become one too.

He turned away, not wanting to think about it, but unable to stop himself.

His career at the Ministry of Magic would be over.

He'd be an outcast.

He'd lose Sally; there was no chance he could keep something like this a secret from her.

He'd be a werewolf.

"Did it get anyone else that night?" he finally asked.

"You were the only one," the healer replied. "No one else even knows there was a werewolf out there that night."

"I suppose I was lucky that wizards found me," he said with a sigh. "Were they tracking the creature?"

"It was a muggle that found you," the healer said. "A little memory modification and we sent him on his way. I sometimes envy them for what they don't know."

That drew his attention back from the patterns on the curtains to the healer who was now efficiently checking his bandages.

Richard looked at his wound and saw that it was more healed than he would have expected. "How long have I been in here?" he asked with a frown.

"Nearly two weeks," the healer replied. "For a while there we didn't think you'd pull through at all."

"Sally!" he said as sat up and gasped as pain from the movement shot through him.

"Hey," the healer said as she pushed him back onto the bed. "You're not going anywhere for a while. Do you need us to notify someone about your whereabouts?"

"Sally," he said as he begrudgingly settled back down. "My girl, she's going to be worried, she doesn't know what happened, she won't understand."

"Not much faith in your girl, have you?" the healer said with a sad smile. "I'm sure she'll be here to see you as soon as we notify her."

"She's a muggle," Richard said in a quiet voice. "Can someone bring her here?"

He watched the shadow pass over the healer's face and knew instantly the answer to the question. No muggles were going to be allowed to wander around St Mungo's, not unless they had their memories modified at the time. He wished he had told Sally sooner about this world that she knew nothing about.

He closed his eyes and muttered that he was tired. He didn't open them again until he had heard the footsteps retreat further down the ward and he was sure that the healer had gone.

* * *

There had only been one person in the ward when he had gone to sleep. She was a woman who had been bitten by something unknown. He listened to the healers talking about the situation and heard the worry in their voices as they considered their options. He sympathised with them and knew they could not heal the woman if she wasn't being totally honest with them.

The next morning when he awoke there was another patient in the ward, a middle-aged man with auburn hair, who had managed to get himself bitten by a giant snake. He looked at his curiously because he didn't seem the type of person to be attacked by snakes. Then again, he wondered whether he seemed the type to be attacked by a werewolf.

"Arthur Weasley," the man called across by way of greeting once the healer had gone. "You been here long?"

"Long enough," Richard replied in a tone he knew sounded sulky but he didn't care.

"Looks like I'm going to be here for Christmas," Arthur said with a shrug. "What about you?"

"Another couple of weeks I think," Richard said, as he realised that they would not be releasing him out of St Mungo's until after the next full moon. They would want to be sure whether he was safe before they let him out. His face twisted bitterly and he felt ill at the thought of the coming full moon.

"Nothing too serious then?" Arthur said with a smile.

"Depends if you call werewolf bites serious," Richard replied with not a little amount of sarcasm. Although his bed was directly opposite Arthur's he turned onto his side in an effort to put across the message that he didn't want to talk. He didn't want sympathy and that was all he had been receiving since he had woken up. He didn't know what he wanted instead, but not sympathy.

"Oh," said Arthur before the ward became quiet again.

* * *

Richard woke again to see several healers crowded in the doorway of the ward. As he looked in their direction he saw one of them notice he was awake and they all walked over to him.

He didn't hear half of what they were saying as they spoke about secure facilities and stressed that the full moon only came once a month.

"For the rest of the time you'll be human and perfectly safe," one of the healers said with a nod.

"You'll spend the first full moon here," one of the others said. "In our secure facility. Just in case. We can't give you wolfsbane potion the first time, in case you're not a werewolf. The side effects on a normal person tend to vary and some can be just as bad as becoming a werewolf."

"You may not become one at all," another said. "But it's not the end of the world if you do."

"End of my career though, isn't it?" Richard said bitterly as he glared at first one healer and then another. "No more job at the Ministry if I turn into a monster once a month."

"Bloody legislation," muttered one of the healers with a shake of her head.

"So you're not going to deny it?" Richard said triumphantly.

"There're plenty of other jobs out there," one of the other healers intervened. "And it's better not to dwell on things that might not happen anyway."

"In that case," Richard said with a small cold smile, "why are you all here at all?"

"Just in case," the healer who had sworn over the legislation said. "Just in case."

They left him to think over all they had told him, most of which he hadn't taken in at all. He felt ill again and wondered how he could earlier have thought of leaving.

"It's not so bad," he heard Arthur call from across the ward.

"What would you know?" Richard retorted. "You going to turn into a snake once a month from now on?"

"Well, no," Arthur admitted. "But I do know a werewolf personally, and he manages to do all right. Lives a perfectly normal life."

"You seem to associate with a lot of monsters," Richard said, not bothering to sit up to meet Arthur's eye.

"He's not a monster," Arthur replied. "He's a very nice man and I'm sure he'd be happy to help you get used to things."

"I don't need any help," Richard said.

"It wouldn't be any trouble."

"Do you want another bite?"

"What?"

"Another bite?"

"No."

"Then shut up, or you'll get one."

The ward went quiet again.

* * *

Richard didn't think he'd sleep but the sounds of visitors in the ward penetrated his mind and he came around to the sounds of children and adults gathered around the bed of Arthur Weasley.

He tried to sit up when he heard himself being referred to in whispered tones but he didn't have the strength and gave up almost immediately.

He slept again, his dreams consisting of nightmares of running through the forest, a pursuer at his heels. Then he was the pursuer and the prey was just out of his reach.

Over and over he ran through the trees, hunter and hunted, a never-ending cycle and the full moon always overhead illuminating the path he was now set up.

He woke in a cold sweat, feeling un-rested and irritable.

He looked across the room to where Arthur Weasley was being "stitched up" by one of the trainee healers and he wondered how wise that course of action was. But Arthur was delighted with the stitches and it was him they were sewing up.

* * *

By Christmas Day Richard was feeling far better and was trying not to take out his irritation on the others in the ward. He wondered hesitantly if he could ask Arthur about his werewolf friend but didn't like to broach the subject after his last words on the matter.

Then that afternoon he realised he wouldn't have to.

His family and friends once again surrounded Arthur Weasley, the red hair betraying which were which.

He didn't know how he knew that the man at the edge of the crowd of visitors was the werewolf Arthur had mentioned. But something told him that he was. He hoped that his guess was wrong and feared that his recognition of a werewolf in his human form was a sign that he was going to change into the creature he feared when the full moon rose.

He wished he had some visitors to distract him from the Weasley party but his family was long gone, lost in the war, and his friends had been noticeably absent ever since his admission to the hospital. He looked across at the Weasleys and gave a small sigh.

The visitors had barely arrived when an argument ensued over, of all things, Arthur's stitches. As Arthur's wife's temper rose, the rest of the party scattered. He got the impression that this was something that happened on a rather regular basis.

He was so busy watching the display of Arthur Weasley trying to explain to his wife why he had chosen to test a muggle healing method he didn't notice that one of the visitors had wandered in his direction.

"Hear you got yourself bitten by a werewolf?" the brown haired man said without a smile.

"You're one," Richard said by way of reply. It wasn't a question.

"I'm not the one that bit you," the man replied. "Remus Lupin."

Richard took Remus's proffered hand and shook it.

"I'm not the one that bit you," Remus said with a small smile. "Just in case you're wondering. I've been safely dosed with wolfsbane for some years now."

"I never said…"

"Just in case," Remus repeated with a grin. "We werewolves do tend to look a little different under the full moon."

Richard smiled, unable to stop himself from responding to the obvious comment, clearly intended to relax him. He wondered though how someone could joke about such a thing.

"You get used to it," Remus said, in answer to his unspoken question. "I've been like this since I was a child. Things were a little different then."

"No wolfsbane?" Richard guessed.

"No wolfsbane," Remus said with a nod of agreement.

"Does it hurt?" Richard asked, feeling that no matter how much the healers tried to describe the effects of the change they knew nothing for sure.

"Your body reforms in minutes," Remus pointed out. "Of course it hurts. But you get used to that too. It's not like you have a choice. For the most part you can carry on as normal."

"I'll be fired," Richard said.

"Do you know that for sure?"

"I work at the Ministry."

"Ah," Remus grimaced in understanding. "Jobs aren't easy to come by for us. The prejudices are pretty bad, but there're more people willing to give us chances these days."

"Just not in the Ministry."

"No, not in the Ministry." Remus looked across the other side of the room where Mrs Weasley had stopped shouting. "I better go say hello to Arthur. I'll leave you a contact address if you want to talk later."

"Thanks," Richard replied as Remus scrawled his an address onto a piece of parchment and left it on the bedside cupboard.

"I can't help thinking I've seen you before," Richard said with a frown as Remus stood up to leave. "Have you been in the papers?"

"Not recently," Remus said, looking uneasy for the first time.

"You're that teacher who was sacked from Hogwart's!" Richard exclaimed when he finally realised where he had seen the man before. "Sacked for being a werewolf."

"Actually I resigned," Remus said with a stern frown.

"Because you were a werewolf," Richard insisted.

"For several reasons," Remus said. "Most of which wouldn't help to sell newspapers and so weren't reported. You _can_ lead a normal life."

"So why don't you?" Richard asked as he crossed his arms and waited for the answer.

"My life is my choice," Remus said softly. "I don't regret my decisions."

Richard opened his mouth to speak again but Remus had walked away.

* * *

Richard sat on the floor, leaning against the wall in the secured room of St Mungo's. He could see the night sky out of the high window and knew that out of sight the full moon had risen. It was only a mater of time before it reached the height of the window and he would know for sure.

The clock ticked on as the moon rose over the sill.

Richard held his face in his hands as he waited for the moment of truth.

The End

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_A/N - hope you enjoyed the story. Please read and review and consider checking out some of my others._  



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